I never expected the kind of horror I got from this film and I guess I have to start bracing myself for the “evil will prevail” resolution so it doesn’t come as a shock to me anymore. It’s a slow-burning and atmospheric horror film. Its horror is psychological, existential and rooted in dread, which I found very unsettling - that’s the whole point of a horror film right?
Synopsis
Directed by Barnaby Clay, the story follows Stone (Scott Haze), a lone man who finds himself trapped in a barren canyon after trying to help a presumed lost child. Stranded without any clear way to escape, Stone discovers a mysterious woman, Alina (Kate Lyn Sheil), who lives alone in the canyon and she provides him shelter.
Soon enough, he realizes he’s not alone as the cliffs above are populated by a feral group of young men who taunt, torment and block his escape.
Days soon turn to weeks and his sense of self and purpose begin to disintegrate.
Will he ever get out of the canyon?
A Very Subjective Review
The cinematography was what had me hooked. It kind of prepared me for the creeping events to follow. It is haunting. The bleached desert tones and jagged canyon walls added to the oppressive, claustrophobic feel. The isolation is pretty much palpable at least I was able to share in Stone’s confusion and fear but sometimes I just wanted him to shut up and think.
As much as we watch films and brush off the story with the comment “it’s just a movie/it’s mere fiction”, most of what is depicted in films mirror our realities and that of the society we live in. First things first, I honestly don’t know what high level of curiosity would make me want to explore a canyon in a desert especially when the sun has dipped below the horizon. Second, I would never fall for the prank of following a child in a deserted place all in the name of looking for the child’s parent. I would actually offer to take the child with me, out of wherever I found him or her, to the police, hand the child over and let the police do their thing than to follow the child to roam in the sun all in the name of having a heart’.
Dating back, kids have been used as bait - they enter into agreement with whatever sadistic human they work for and lure those who wouldn’t activate their brain cells to doom.
I’m sorry to spoil this film a little bit but it really pissed me off when Stone kept on following the kid even after he became rude. He had a chance to run back to his car but I guess he used the phrase most parents use “he’s just a child” and went on. Lol. Well, I hope such stupidity only exists in movies though.
Scott Haze(Stone) delivers a raw and emotional performance, capturing the slow unraveling of a man who’s been stripped of freedom. Kate Lyn Sheil(Alina) is hauntingly enigmatic and her character’s passive control over the situation is both fascinating and disturbing.
This film’s slow pace may actually frustrate some. It takes its time by favoring tension over action, and the payoff, while disturbing and effective, is more symbolic than explosive. The ending is ambiguous and open to interpretation but I have no interpretation for it other than pure shock and a little bit of disappointment.
If you don’t appreciate slow-burn psychological horror then you will likely pass but if you do, you will find something memorable and deeply haunting here.
Rating? ⅘.